Waiting for Spring

When I cast off a shawl last night - more on that later - I noticed that my left wrist was acting up. I have hyper-mobile joints and sometimes I forget that I have to "stiffen" my wrist when pushing against or carrying things. These past few days I have been doing a lot of pushing and shoving at work - and now my left wrist is acting up as a result. I'll need to uncover some bandages later and perhaps even scale down my knitting activities. Woe. But, yes, I have cast off my third shawl of 2010. After finishing this Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl and knowing that I would wear it, I cast on for another F&F shawl in Marks & Kattens Fame Trend in colour 651 (a sage-brown-red combo). Again, a very straightforward knit and I really love the colours. I much preferred Fame Trend to the very disappointing Drops Delight - Fame Trend is softer, the colour combinations are better and I much prefer the evenness of the resulting fabric to the substandard faux-Noro-esque Delight.

But I think I am definitely ready to move away from knitting multi-coloured shawls out of sock yarn.

My next project is a pullover from the new Rowan magazine - the Spring Summer 2010 one. Relax is a casual lacy jumper designed by Sarah Hatton and knitted out of Summer Tweed, a silk/cotton yarn, in a lovely red shade. I'm slightly concerned about how my wrist will cope with the yarn as I know from experience that knitting will cotton will hurt my hands. Hopefully the 30% content of cotton won't tax my hands too much. I'm excited about this one as I tend to knit mostly big, woolly garments and I'd love to have a pretty red jumper that I can wear throughout the year. I plan on wearing it with layers - long-sleeves black tops for spring and autumn and a little black camisole during the three days of summer we'll get. In my head I can also see it working with a teal corduroy skirt I have. Fingers crossed.

Thanks to the lovely girls at Go Fug Yourself, I spent the morning looking at ice-skating routines. Having watched Johnny Weir skating to Lady Gaga, I can die a happy woman. Growing up in Scandinavia, I watched lot of ice-skating and have always loved its mad combination of gymnastics, showmanship, and ever-looming possibility of bone fractures. Oh, the Winter Olympics cannot come soon enough.. (and I am planning to knit my very first pair of socks for the Ravelympics).

Shawls Shawls Shawls

I have somehow managed to sign myself up for a "10 Shawls for 2010" challenge on Ravelry. By doing so I have completely ignored that I want to knit more small accessories in 2010 as I have cold fingers and a cold head most of the year round. However, the shawls challenge does fit nicely into my stashdown knitting. Besides, the goals for the challenge are quite lenient. Yardage for each shawl should be 200 yrds plus with a few exceptions. In other words, the shawls can be quite tiny. I have looked through my stash (although I'm yet to reorganise it - blame my achy shoulder for that one) and I have looked at the shawls I have in my Ravelry queue. So far I am planning to knit the following shawls (in no particular order):

• Aeolian Shawl
• Noget Der Ligner (basically a Danish version of a Shetland hap shawl)
• Bitterroot (I'm thinking maybe using my yak wool for this?)

I'm likely to add more shawls as I find them, as they get published, and as I get new ideas about the yarns in my stash. I do not have my stash fully entered on Ravelry, but I do have some very wonderful things stashed aside and I would rather use them than keep them boxed up in a closet.I am also fully aware that my wardrobe does not need ten shawls, so I will be giftboxing some of the finished items. This may make it easier for me to pair up yarn + pattern. I tend to get a bit intense about finding the right yarn for the right pattern but if I know I will be gifting the shawl, I need not fret so much. After all, most of the recipients have a far more relaxed attitude towards knitting than I do.

And so I cast on for yet another shawl on Sunday. Last year my friend Elaine had knitted a Feather and Fan Comfort shawl (Flickr picture not of Elaine's shawl but of one made by the hugely talented Julia) and I admired it so much that I knew I needed to knit one too. While I was in Copenhagen, I picked up two balls of Drops Delight which I thought would suit the pattern. I am not liking the yarn, unfortunately. It feels far too synthetic to my fingers and it is trying so hard to out-Noro Noro that it is overspun, thick-and-thin, and has jarring colour changes (no hay or sticks, so far though!). In short, the things I find charming about Noro is significantly less charming when the yarn is more synthetic and less baa-baa-sheepsie. At least this project is portable which is something!

The new Rowan magazine is out in the shops now. It features an article by Kate Davies about knitting outdoors - something I am extremely fond of doing myself, although I'm not likely to climb mountains or run a marathon whilst knitting. The magazine also has quite a few patterns I really like. After scrutinising the pictures, I have decided that I am not going to knit that delightful little Kid Silk Haze jumper (body shape issues) but that I really like the Summer Tweed pullover. So that has been added to the list too. So much I want to knit. So little time.

FOs: Art Deco Shawl & Mitts

When I first wore my new shawl on a shopping trip to some local shops, I was approached twice. A drunk man outside the butcher's informed me that I was "the most beautiful woman in the world" and shortly afterwards a toothless shouted an indecent proposal after me as I was walking home with shopping bags. Based on that evidence, I think it is fair to conclude that my new shawl is a bonafide success. Oh, and that I probably do not want to wear it to the local shops.

The shawl was an easy and very intuitive knit. After a couple of fans, I had the pattern "in my fingers" and could fudge my way if stitches didn't add up. The last row of so-called "half-fans" did not make sense as I read it, but once I began knitting, things clicked in my head. Two tiny, tiny warnings: you will be picking up a lot of stitches with this pattern and there are many ends to weave in. If you are fine with those two aspects, I'd recommend the Fan Shawl pattern. It is smart, it's entertaining and it's free. Huzzah.

I chose to use King Cole Mirage as I wanted a washable wool with stunning colours. I had previously used the wool for a garterstitch project and really liked working with it. Unfortunately Mirage turned out to be a splitty nightmare once I started doing decreases and picking up stitches. I alternated between three balls in order to avoid pooling and had enough wool for an extra row before the "half-fans". The colours kept me going long after the fan-making had turned almost tedious (although the pattern had a "just one more fan before I.." aspect to it).

Honestly? I like the end result a lot more than I liked the process of knitting it. I think it may be a first for me. Dave says the fans remind him of the Chrysler Building, so we've dubbed this "the Art Deco Shawl".

After finishing the shawl, I had enough wool leftover for a pair of quick mitts. Last summer I admired a Hand-Knitted Pirate's mitts and had mentally noted the name of the pattern. When I found myself in need of a quick knit, I uncovered the pattern. I knitted these mitts over two nights but, really, they are a one-night project even including sewing up the sides and other finishing touches.

Modifications: I only used Pattern 1. I repeated it six times before ribbing and casting off. I also went down to 3.25mm because I remember The Pirate's mitts being a touch too big for my hands. These fit better. To be honest, I'm not bowled over by the pattern - I would have liked a thumb gusset and a bit more shaping - but what do I expect from a pair of quick and easy mitts?

They do look beautiful and will work well together with my grey gloves underneath.

(Apologies for the first photo; the light was slightly odd in the greenhouses today)

I Heart Crochet. Deal.

For many years I preferred crochet to knitting. As a child I crocheted blankets for my Barbie doll's bed, later I ventured into bigger projects such as pillow covers before making my first (self-designed) jumper when I was about eighteen. I made it during a stint in bed and I used all the scraps of colourful cotton I could find in the house. The jumper had granny square across the bust and the rest had stripes of whatever colour and stitch pattern I could conjure up. I remember not having the patience to sew it up properly, so I used the sewing machine with resulting bulky seams. No, it was not a perfect-looking jumper, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't even flattering, but I wore it proudly and a few people even offered to buy it off me. When I returned to crafting after a few years in the wilderness, I returned to crochet. I had found some crocheted jewellery on Etsy, didn't like the price tag and loudly exclaimed "I can make that myself". The next day I bought a crochet hook and some wool from Ms Old Maiden Aunt and, as they said, the rest is history. As you probably know, I swiftly moved into knitting but that is a story for another day.

Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because one of my major pet peeves is when crochet patterns really, really, really want to be knitting patterns. This crochet pattern is a crochet version of knitting patterns such as Lady Eleanor. Or how about a crocheted Aran pullover? A Bohus-esque pullover? By imitating knitting patterns, I think designers make crochet into a second-class activity. It is like they say: "Oh, knitting is amazing and we are so sorry that you are not knitting that we have made you some patterns so you can look like you are wearing some famous knitted stuff." Instead I want designers to say: "Crochet is amazing. It can do so many fascinating structural things with (negative) space and dimensions and we're designing patterns that really showcase what crochet can do." Yesterday I saw some examples of what you can really achieve if the designer understands crochet and that was a joy to behold. Crochet is not a lesser craft - it is a different craft.

Today I have the pleasure of a day off. Snow may be heading our way, so I think that is a jolly good excuse to curl up in the sofa with a cup of tea and the last few rows of my Fan Shawl. I just have some stitches to pick up and five rows left to knit. Sounds fun, mm? Unfortunate I have 350+ stitches to pick up but nevermind.. I have all day to myself and what a luxury that is.

http://www.oldmaidenaunt.com/

Pour Le Monde Mitts And Other Stuff

I made these Garter Stitch Mitts way back in November but seeing I made them as a Christmas present, I have had to keep quiet about them. This was the project which made me fall in love with Russian grafting. It is not entirely invisible, but it is a very tidy and neat way of grafting. Anyway, the mitts have been gifted and the recipient has already begun using them. I plan on making myself a pair of Garter Stitch Mitts at some point - the pattern is bordering on being absolute genius. I have had a couple of (planned) days off work and like a sensible person I have mainly kept indoors. Britain is having "the worst winter in 30/70/100 years" (depending upon which news outlet you believe) and snow is everywhere. Being Scandinavian I am actually used to snow (even if I dislike it immensely) but I am not used to people not dealing well with snow. Pavements are not being cleared; cars do not sport winter tyres and have a troubling tendency to spin slightly out of control whenever I walk near them; and public transport is predictably unpredictable. I continue to get a kick out of watching people walk around in wellies and big acrylic jumpers - winter boots and layers are key to dressing for freezing temperatures, folks! The cold snap is set to last for some time yet - which is good news for my Scheherazade Fan Shawl (a few rows away from being done) seeing as it is more a lap blanket than a shawl. So nice and snuggly - perfect for this weather.

Finally, a little plea for some help. My birthday is about a month away and my family is asking me for a wish list. I have decided against asking for yarn (I have decided that 2010 is the year of stash-down), but I have no idea what else to ask for. I have this weird thing about only wanting things I actually NEED rather than wanting little luxurious things. If you could ask for little little luxuries, what would you ask for? Remember - non-yarny things only!

On Knitwear, London and Beginnings

I have begun stalking people's knitwear on Ravelry. I see a piece of handknit, recognise the pattern and search the Ravelry database until I find the actual piece of knitwear and the knitter. Today I saw a pair of really, really cute handknitted gloves. I asked the girl about the pattern and the yarn, and I found the actual gloves on Ravelry some five minutes ago. I love Ravelry - even if I have become a demented stalker determined to track down handknitted items so I can mark them as a favourite.

Notable knitting blog post about knitting terminology and differences in language. I do so love when people get really passionate about words. English is my second language and my knitting terminology is a sad mixture of British English and American English. I say "yarn" most of the time and "yarn over" ALL of the time, but I do try to say "tension square" and "double knitting". Funnily enough I have English words in my knitting vocabulary for which I have no Danish equivalent. "Skein"? "Lace knitting"? It took me a long time to figure out that "a ball winder" is a "krydsnøgleapparat" (and then took my mum some dedicated googling to find out where she could get me one for Christmas). I'm still not sure, though, how to translate "hønsestrik" into English - it was this funky 1970s political knitting phenomenon in Denmark which was sort of fair isle goes Peruvian folklore with added Marxism and second-wave feminism. You can see some modern day hønsestrik here although it seems pretty relaxed (and is knitted to a pattern unlike the original hønsestrik) compared to some of the stuff I remember from my childhood.

Tonight I booked a flight to London for a work-related event. It still feels very strange just to pop in and out of London in one day. Sometimes I forget that I live just a few hundred miles from all these mythical places - York, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton and London - which possessed such magic to a little girl in rural Denmark who read way too many books. I lived in London some sixteen years ago and have been a frequent visitor, but I have not visited since 2004. It'll feel peculiar to land at the airport, get the train and step out in the middle of the city. How my life has changed.

(Addendum: David bought me a cherry/geranium cupcake today to celebrate a new beginning to my life. He is the best.)